Saturday, 18 June 2016

The idea that one is ‘other than
oneself’, or one is different from what one should be, brings various sorts of
anxieties in the mind of the people. However, this perceived alienation from
oneself is also the cause for the development of civilisation. Thus, unlike
animals who live in ready- made world, man constantly struggles to create a
world where this dualism can be overcome. One of the institutions that has helped
man in this endeavour is religion. Religion
provides man with some sort of certainty about what he is, what he should be, and
also prescribes what he should do to overcome this dualism, thus providing
meaning to the life and livelihood. However under the onslaught of modernity
and Enlightenment, the sacred canopy of religion has been vanishing. Max Weber foresaw
a world where there was continuous erosion of what he called ‘value
rationality’ (the intrinsic value of something that is non-negotiable), under
the onslaught of instrumental rationality (primarily driven by means end
relation, where everything was negotiable). Weber saw this process beginning
from economy and finally entering into the social life.

The biggest consequences of these
developments is uprooting of man from his niche. While man has always been concerned
about what a good man and good society would be, this anxiety has become more
severe in recent years. Today one is not sure what he should be, and constantly
look towards others as reference point. In search for an identity man is constantly
chasing some models, whom he can emulate, but this search remains elusive. Every
day we try to find ourselves in others way of life and action. We never try to
be model for others. And here comes the role of mass media and advertisements through
which different interest groups, with sole purpose of profit, sell their models
of man. A process called ‘thingification’, whereas a man is made or unmade by
his material possessions, is stark reality of social life. As more and more
decision-making power, backed by technology is falling into the hands of few
technocrats and experts, man has become part of an ocean of mass society, which
only absorb, not reflect, only consume, not produce, only react, not act, only
listens, and never questions. The way we are trying to shape our thought and
action as per the demand of the instrumental rationality, one day man would be
labelled insane simply because he behaved like human.

The need of the hour is to think about a
moral man. In simplified way moral means something
different from our natural desire and instinct. A moral man adheres to his
dharma that is performing his duty religiously. This is the message of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Arjun was more
concerned about his inner desire and instinct that was restraining him from
fighting against his relatives. But then Krishna preached, that as a member of
society, Arjun should be a moral man and his morality demands that he must
fight against his relatives. A man becomes social by performing his duty. Let’s
see how Durkheim, Tocqueville, the Constitution of India, and Gandhi have
similar idea about society based upon dharma.

Durkheim who talks about
the universality of sacred-profane dichotomy in the history of mankind concluded
that religion and society were two sides of the same coin. For Durkheim,
society is a moral system and religion is the most important source of
morality. By underscoring the importance of religion as a universal institution
across time and space, Durkheim opined that there was no future for a society
without religion (morality). Society is the relation
between different statuses, and every status is a combination of rights and
duties. Thus a social man is not only concerned about his right but also of duty.
Right and duty are not antithesis to each other, but complementary.

All over the world people
are aware about the ‘Bill of Rights’ enshrined in the American Constitution,
however people are not that much aware about certain duties Americans fulfil
voluntarily. A young Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville was fascinated by the
working of American democracy. After visiting America for about nine months
(1831-32), he wrote a timeless classic named ‘Democracy in America’ (1835).
America was a highly individualistic society, but democracy, that is a social
institution, was working so well there. For Tocqueville two factors were
responsible for that. One was that Americans were highly religious in nature.
They had left Europe due to religious persecution, but when they founded
America they were of the opinion that only a secular state would ensure their
religious freedom. The second was the unique ability of Americans to form
associations. ‘In democratic countries the science of associationis themotherofscience: the progress of all the rest depends
upon the progress it has made’, Writes Tocqueville. American don’t wait for the state to do everything and believe
in self-help. Both these habits instil a sense of duties among the Americans
towards their country as well as fellow countrymen. Probably the most important
observation of Tocqueville was that, ‘Americans helped each other in time of
need’. One can see that most of the wealthy Americans are involved in one or
another form of philanthropies.

There was belated
recognition of importance of duty in Indian Constitution. The Constitution of
India has bestowed certain rights to the citizens in the form of Fundamental Rights.
However Art. 51A, Part IVA named ‘Fundamental Duties’ was inserted in the
Constitution through the 42nd Constitution Amendment in 1976. These Fundamental
Duties are not enforceable, if a citizens violates it, but these Duties are
moral obligations on every citizen to adhere to the ideals of India as
enshrined in the Constitution. By inserting a chapter on Fundamental Duties the
state has tried to make a balance between the rights and duties of the
individuals.

A
great nation is born when people are equally, if not more, concerned about
their duties as well as about their rights. The foundation of Gandhiji’s idea
of India was Ram Rajya, and this Ram Rajya basically was a society in which man
was committed to his dharma. Ram, for Gandhi, was Maryada Purushottam, meaning one who follows his duty religiously.
So Gandhi imagined a society where everyone would stick to one’s duty, leaving
no scope for the fight for rights. One can say that it was a utopian ideal, but
utopia provides a reference point in which one moves. We cannot live without
utopia. How to build a dharma based
society. For me it is Buddha who is a guiding force. Budhha
said that the main source of our misery is located in our desire. Until we
don’t control our desire, we don’t have any chance to live in peace. And for Buddha, “peace comes from within”, and he advises, “don’t
seek it (peace) without”. By limiting our desire religion helps man
becoming a selfless and fearless subject, who can think, act, and provides
reference points for others. There is need to bring the sacred back in our
social life. And that is the only hope for the humanity.